Less lethal rounds help reduce litigation

Anybody can sue the police department

Anybody can sue the police department and many lawyers see that is an easy source of revenue. If the handcuffs are too tight, you can sue. It is generally cheaper for the police department to pay out small amounts of a settlement claim, than to take it to court due to the costs. To fight a claim involves too much money and time due to lawyers and it because it takes officers off the street. Generally they pay many suits. If a suit is so frivolous that it will create a bad precedent against the police department then, obviously, they will fight it.

Misconduct and use of force

The biggest payouts come from misconduct. 76% of lawsuits are generally misconduct-related. Under the misconduct problem, there are a lot of different situations that could be construed as misconduct. Some might be use of force. Use of force is one of the highest situations within the misconduct problem that results in litigation against the police department.

Options in use of force

The main goal in policing is to reduce the risk. This can mean improving processes, better training, or better equipment. If you can reduce the amount of injuries, then you can reduce the chances of misconduct occurring. For example, our BIPs are the most modern 40mm less lethal rounds on the market. They are the safest. So, to use that in a situation, you are going to reduce the risk a lot more than if you use a traditional rubber bullet that is known to cause a lot of injuries and death.

The BIP holds up in court

With the BIP, even if you did cause an injury, when you get to court, you can say you were using the most modern and safest round on the market. We have looked at all of the alternatives and we’ve deemed this to be the safest to use in public. By using the BIP, you have taken steps of good faith to try to keep the population safer. When it comes to a settlement, judges will look at that, and they will see that this department tried.

Reducing litigation

When it comes to civil court, it’s a balance of probabilities. You weigh the percentages. While this person’s behavior was egregious enough that they felt they had to use less-lethal, and you used the safest less lethal round that they can find on the market, while still mandated by their job too quell that situation. So when it gets to court, if you’re using the best technology, the safest, it’s going to reduce litigation even if it does not point in your favor.

Less lethal rounds = less injury = less litigation

The whole idea is to be able to use it and not get these injuries. Because we know some of these older products that cause a lot of injuries when we use them. There is absolutely no technology within it. It is designed to cause pain, period. It is not designed to cause safe pain or to cause pain safely, it is designed to cause pain. So, when you go a step further and use the safest technology on the market, then you are educing your risk and in return it will reduce some of the litigation on the police service.

Interested in learning more about the BIP?

For more information, technical specs & testing data:

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